Numerical simulation of a flexible fiber deformation in a viscous flow by the immersed boundary-lattice Boltzmann method

In this paper, deformation of a mass-less elastic fiber with a fixed end, immersed in a two-dimensional viscous channel flow, is simulated numerically. The lattice-Boltzmann method (LBM) is used to solve the Newtonian flow field and the immersed-boundary method (IBM) is employed to simulate the deformation of the flexible fiber interacting with the flow. The results of this unsteady simulation including fiber deformation, fluid velocity field, and variations of the fiber length are depicted in different time-steps through the simulation time. Similar trends are observed in plots representing length change of fibers with different values of stretching constant. Also, the numerical solution reaches a steady state equivalent to the fluid channel flow over a flat plate.

► We model the interactions between a deformable fiber and a viscous channel flow. ► We employ the immersed boundary – lattice Boltzmann method for the simulations. ► We examine the effects of fiber mechanical properties on its length variations. ► The model has the potential to be applied to different problems in bio-fluid dynamics.